Improvement in propelling vessels ojst canals



NPEYERS. PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER. WASMINGTDN. Dui:4

BARON' OSCAR DE MESNIL, OF BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, AND MAX EYTH, 'OF STUTTGART, WURTEMBERG.

Letters Patent .Na- 86,732 dated Februar/ry 9, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN PROPELLING- VESSELS ON CANALS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making' part of the same.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, Baron OSCAR DE MESNIL, of IBrussels, Belgium, and MAX EYTH, of Stuttgart, Wurtemberg, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Propelling Canal-Boats andfother Vessels; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and. exact description thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art tc make and use the saine, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

This invention relates to a new and'irnproved inode of propelling canalg-boats and other vessels with steam as a'motor; and

It consists in a peculiar application of the power to a wire rope, and in various means or appliances con-- nected therewith, as hereinafter fully shown and described, Awhereby all the difficulties hitherto attending the success of steam as a motor on canals, rivers, and streams, are successfully obviated.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings- Figure 1, Sheet No. l, is a side View of a steamltug invention applied to them.

Figure 2, a plan or top view of tig. l. Figure 3, an enlarged view ofthe drum on the tug,

and a portion of a canal-boat in tow, and having our -over which drum the wire rope or chain passes.

Figure 4, a section of the saine taken in the lines 'x x, figs. 2 and 3.

Figure 5, Sheet No. 2, a plan or top view of a modi- Iication shown in the figures on Sheet No. 1.

Figure 6, a side view of fig. 5.

Figure 7, -an enlarged view of the drum shown in figs. 5 and 6.

Figure 8, a section of the same taken in the line y y, fig. 7.

Figure 9, Sheet No. 3, a view of the apparatus for forming the slack in the rope, in order to facilitate the adjustment ofthe same overthe drum.

Figure l0, an enlarged detached side View of the gripe or clutch employed 'with the apparatus for forming-'the slack in the rope.

Figure 11, an end view of g. 10. Figure 12, a plan or top view of a Aseries of boats 4connected together by our improved plan.

Aarrangement or application of the propelling-drum.

. Figure 16, a view, Vshowing another modification in the application of the propelling-drum.

Figure 17, a View, showing the means whereby the Wire rope is -strained or has its tension regulated to suit circumstances.

tuer )rovided with a steam-engine ofany ro er or suitu :i n 1 able construction, and having a drum, B, placed loosely on a fixed shaft, C, over which a wire rope, D, passes the latter being made to hug the periphery of the drum, that is to say, kept in contact with a sutlicient portion of its periphery to insure the requisite degree vof friction necessary for the propulsion of the tug and boats connecte-d therewith.

This end is attained by guide-rollers, a. c, las shown clearly, in gs. l and 3.

The wire rope is submerged in the canal or stream, and secured at both ends, and as the drum B isA rotated, the friction of the rope on the drum is designed to be sufficient to cause the boat to be propelled along.

If necessary, however, the drum B may be provided with clips or clamps at its periphery, so arranged as to grasp or bite the rope, and insure the propulsion of the boat.

A modification of the application of thel drum B is shown in the drawings on Sheet No. 2. l

Inthis arrangement, the drum has a horizontal position, and the guide-rollers care placed on the top or deck of the boat, instead of at the side, as shown in Sheet No. 1. i

The former application involves the necessity of a recess or chamber, vb, being formed in the side of the tug or boat, to receive the guide-rollers a, and this isattended with considerable trouble and expense in the' building of the tug`or boat, and precludes the applioaf tion of the vertical drum to tugs or boats not built expressly for its use.

The modication exhibited in the drawings on Sheet. No. A2, obviates this difficulty, as will be readily seen.

The rope D is designed to pass through the locks, E, of a canal, and underneath the gates F of the locks, as shown in iig. 6; and in order to prevent the rope. being caught between the bottoms of the gates and the side-piece G thereof, the outer edges of the gates have vBy this arrangement, as the gates are closed, the

rope will bepressed toward the centre of the side-piece G, and will remain between the edges ofthe two gates while the same remain in a closed state. (See g. 5.)

It is designed to have one end of the rope D connected to a windlass, operated by a screw and wormwheel, as shown in red in fig. 16 at ax.

By this simple arrangement, the rope may be kept at a proper degree of tension at all times, and this is an important feature, in a practical point of View, as

.the rope requires to be let out when there are many tugs orboats appliedito v'or connected with it,for al considerable length of rope is taken up by its passage around the propelling-drums.

As tugs or boats are detached from the rope, the latter will require to be tightened, to take up the slack caused thereby.

In order to cast the rope ofi' from the propellingdrums, which is often required, to allow one tug or boat to pass another, and also for other purposes, the folcontact with the lower part of the drum, owing to the' superior gravity of that end of the arm, and in consequence of the arm being fitted loosely on the shaft, and'not turning with the drum; (See figs. 1, 3, and 4.)

vWhen the rope is to be cast off, the end ofthe arm opposite to that provided .with the prongs j, has a pin, h., (see fig. 4,) passed through it, said pin extending into the drum, and securing the arm to the latter, so that the arm will rotate with the drum, and the pronged end of the arm pass underneath the rope, so as to cast the latter from the drum. (See fig. 14.).

In Sheet N 0.2, a modification of this casting-off apparatus is shown, a bent lever orarm, H', being attached to the horizontal drum B, the upper arm extending" beyond the periphery of the drum, and curved downward, as shown clearly in fig. 8, and the inner arm extending downward into an annular groove, i, in a fixed plate, j, underneath the drum.

This groove i is not continuousor does not form a complete circle, a break, k, being in it to allow a c'ur' vature, Z, on a pivoted bar, lm, being adjusted into the groove, said curvature, when thus adjusted, causing the inner arm to be forced inward or backward, and

the upper arm consequently forced downward, so that it will catch underneath the rope, (see fig. 8,) and cast the same off' from the drum.

Another modification of this casting-off apparatus is shown in iigs. 18 and 19, the latter consisting simply of a hinged bar, H, which may be adjusted over the drum B, as shown in fig. 18, so as to cast off the rope,

or be turned outward or backward, so that it cannot come in contact with the rope.

In order to ,avoid any difiiculty in applying the rope to the propelling-drum, an apparatus is employed for forming a slack in the rope,

Thi s apparatus, (see figs. 1() and 11,) consists of two clampsI I, to `which supplemental ropes or chains 'u u, are attached, the latter being connected to opposite sides of a pulley, J, fitted on-the shaft O, outside of the drum B, and connected therewith. (See fig. 9.)

The clamps I I are each composed of two parts, 0 p, -he part o being what may be termed a shell, being of V-shape atits lower part, (see fig. 11,) and having a' taper groove, q, in the inner surface of each side, to receive cleats o', of corresponding shape, at each side of the part p in which the ends of the ropes or chains il u. are secured.

The lower edges of the part 1; are grooved or hollowed out in seinicircular form, and the parts or shells o of the clamps are fitted on the rope D, and the parts p fitted in the parts o, the cleats r of p fitting in the grooves q of o, and in consequence'of the grooves and 'est l chainbeing attached to the pulley-drum for that purpose.

In attaching boats to the tug, and to one another, a rope or chain-connection may be used, as shown in Sheet No. 1, I( representing the rope 0r chain passing around hooks or pins s,' on the boat L, and attached A to a hook, t, on the tug, the opposite end of the rope or chain being connected to a windlass, M, on the tug.

The bow of the boat is fitted in a recess, lu, corresponding in shape to the bow of the boat, and having pivoted plates e t attached to its ends, which serve as bearings for the boat L. (See figs. l and 2.)

For connecting a series of canal-boats together', two lines n: w are employed, as shown in fig. l2.

These lines are attached to the ends of swivel-bars N, which are pivoted centrally to bars O, the latter being fitted transverselyon the boats at some distance from their bows. (See fig. 13.)

By this arrangement, the boats are allowed to tur freely, and conform to the sinuosities of the canal, withont getting out of line, as would be the case were they connected by a singlerope, chain, or line.

In certain cases, it might be preferable to have theA rope D pass over the deck of the tug, instead of having it at'one side of the same, and in this instance, the rope may pass over guide-rollers on the tug, as shown in g. 16, and in certain cases, the propelling-drum B may be placed in the hold of the tug, as shown in fig.

15, in which case the rope Dwill be entirely out of the l way.

It will beseen, from the above description, that the vinvention is applicable not only for propelling canalboats, but also for ferry-boats onstreams capable of having a submerged rope or chain stretched across them, andthe invention will' also be serviceable in streams where there are rapids, as a wire rope may be submerged in the rapids, and boats enabled to pass through or over them Without any difculty Whatever.

We claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The casting-off apparatus, consisting of an arm, H, H,'or H, attached to or connected with the propelling-drum B, or its equivalent, and arranged substantially as Yshown and described, so that, by a simple adjustment, the arm may be thrown in contact with the rope, and, by the' revolution of the drum, cast off the rope from the latter.

2. The clamps I I, constructed and applied to the rope D, in connection with the pulley J and supplemental ropes n n, or an equivalent means, for the purpose of forming or producing, when required, a slack in the rope D, to facilitate the placing of the rope on the drum.

3. The two segments d Z at the bottom ofthe lock E, in connection with the grooves c in the edges of the gates F, all arranged substantially as and for the purpose specified.

4, The swivel-bars N, in combination with the lines ww, all arranged and applied substantially in the manner as and'for the purpose set forth.

,The above specification of our invention signed by us, this 14th.(lay of October, 1867;

BON. OSCAR DE MESNIL. MAX EY'IH. Witnesses:

WM. F. M CNAMARA, ALEX. Fi Rcnnrs. 

